Prostate cancer is among the top diseases that men worry about most in their lives, especially since it’s a common disease to affect the health for men over the age 50. In order to be more aware about the common signs and symptoms of prostate cancer, it’s important to get educated about the disease and to help others become aware of the importance of regular check-ups and screening tests in order to detect any problems early on.
There are several guidelines that men should follow in order to properly get diagnosed with prostate related problems like benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostatitis or cancer.
Before learning about the various screening guidelines that are brought to you from some of the top prostate cancer organizations in North America, consider the common symptoms that are associated with the different stages of cancer:
Symptoms of Prostate Cancer
Early Stages
Early stages of prostate cancer will generally not have any symptoms or very minute ones that can easily be mistaken as something far less serious for the body. Most people will usually think they just caught the common cold. This poses a big problem for many men since it prolongs the time of cancer growth until it’s discovered in more advanced stages.
Moderate Stages
Some of the most common symptoms for the moderate prostate cancer stage are:
- painful urination
- difficult urination
- frequent urination at night
- difficulty starting or maintaining proper urinary flow
Advanced Prostate Cancer
The more advanced stage of prostate cancer is also labelled as metastatic cancer because this is the stage where the cancer has spread to other areas in the body.
The lymph nodes or bones are most common areas that cancer spreads to from the prostate. In metastatic cancer stages, the most common symptoms are:
- blood in the urine
- swelling of the legs and feet
- weight loss
- erectile dysfunction
- painful ejaculation
- bone pain (vertebrae, pelvis and ribs)
If you are worried that you may have prostate cancer, you must first stay calm and look over the common symptoms that are associated with each cancer stage.
Screening Guidelines for Prostate Cancer
In order to properly detect prostate cancer, there is a series of prostate cancer screening test that are conducted by the doctor. Sometimes a person will have to do a couple of these test while other times, especially when it’s very difficult to conclusively diagnose prostate cancer, the physician will continue to conduct one prostate cancer screening test after another, until they are absolutely sure which stage of cancer, if any a patient may be in at the time. This is especially common when a doctor is trying to detect abnormal cells to determine the difference between benign prostatic hyperplasia and cancer.
With all of the different procedures used to diagnose (especially a blood test or a biopsy), it can get quite nerve racking for someone to find out if they have cancer or not. When a patient has a test for prostate cancer, each test result will generally be given back after a few days or at most a couple of weeks.
There are always different forms of testing for anyone wanting to get properly diagnosed for different conditions like infection or diseases like prostate cancer. Whether it’s through a community health clinic, your personal physician or in a hospital, there are a few things to learn about the various and new prostate cancer screening guidelines.
AUA Prostate Cancer Screening Guideline
The American Urological Association (AUA) has a set of guidelines known as the AUA Screening Guideline for Prostate Cancer. The main site will offer their complete guidelines along with any reviewed or updated areas that were previously listed. The AUA screening guide explains everything that’s involved with the tests, who should have the tests done and all of the factors that can possibly affect the results of tests like the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test.
A PSA test is conducted to check protein levels in a prostate. If these protein levels are found to be higher than they should normally be, it’s a sign to have more tests done to confirm the cause of these levels. This is one of the most common tests done to find prostate infection or other more serious problems like cancer.
Although it may seem like the American Urological Association would have very different guidelines to the American Cancer Society, there are in fact many similarities, however the ACS provide a complete guide to all things related to prostate cancer, whereas the AUA will generally have more centralized information about the PSA test.
ACS Prostate Cancer Screening Guidelines
The American Cancer Society (ACS) also has a set of their own guidelines known as the ACS Screening Guidelines for Prostate Cancer, you can download a complete guideline in PDF format through the site and it will explain everything from what the different prostate problems are, who the screening tests are recommended for and what’s involved with each test. The guide also offers advice to men of different ages and for those who may have a higher chance of getting the disease, whether it’s through family history, medical conditions, lifestyle and more.
New Screening Guidelines for Prostate Cancer
You can be sure that there will regularly be new screening guidelines for prostate cancer since doctors are constantly finding new methods of proper screening that will diagnose a patient with greater accuracy. While some of the first screening methods were good for the time, the accuracy was generally quite low, requiring several different screening options to conclusively diagnose prostate cancer. Today, there are far more accurate methods (90%+ compared to 60%) that require patients to follow different guidelines for a proper procedure to be conducted.
By making an effort to stay informed about the changing screening guidelines for prostate cancer and having regular check-ups with your physician, you will greatly decrease the chances of getting this terrible disease. To get up-to-date information of screening guidelines or other prostate-related news, make sure to check out the main sites of popular organizations like the Prostate Cancer Foundation or the Prostate Cancer Society.
